A/N: Sorry for taking so long. Life gets in the way - but here it is!

Chapter 9:

Echo

"Hell no," my voice was cold, strong, and pissed off. "No," I repeated. "There is no way I'm going to let my sister do that… especially not with him." I had been pacing up and down the halls for what felt like hours. Theo leaned against the door frame, looking annoyed.

"Calm down already," he said exasperated. I must be very tiring to deal with. "I get that you hate him. But Mora does not. She loves him, Echo. Just… quit fighting her, will you? A mate is the lycan equivalence to an imprint- its natural."

"It's different," I insisted, "It's not just a protection thing. It's a real, permanent, physical bond. If he hurts her- she won't be able to get over it."

"Imprints aren't as strong, I get it. And the whole blood thing is just plain weird. But Mora is hurt. If she could take your blood to heal- you'd do it in a heartbeat. Don't you think Nick feels the same?"

"Always with the emotional advice- this is why I don't do well with the touchy-feely things, and probably why you irritate me so much." I scoffed. Really, I did appreciate it- without Morrie to tell me how to handle things I was seriously struggling. I shrugged, slumping against the wall. "It's not my choice. Morrie has to decide on her own, doesn't she? And your right. She's hurt and she needs it. But I just can't stand the thought that he's going to be with her. It makes me sick to my stomach."

"A few days ago it was set in your mind to kill him, and now it's not an option anymore. I get it." Theo replied, trying his best to understand me.

I sat against the wall, stretching my legs to other opposite wall, wincing at the pain in my mussels.

"How did it go? The changes, I mean," Theo's voice startled me out of my aching bones. I cast my gaze down, feeling the back of my eyes begin to ache.

Truth be told- I wanted to talk about it; to scream and yell and fight, because it wasn't fair that other's got to live and I didn't. it wasn't fair that I would never be able to control myself and I would never get to wake up clean of blood and death. But I just wasn't ready to talk. Because a little part of me had died, the part that was hope. And right now my little sister was in the other room seriously hurt because I couldn't always protect her. I felt like I'd failed in too many ways.

Theo's face fell, seeing my expression. "You'll find another way, Echo."

"…. No. I won't. There isn't another way. I can't do it- I can't control myself."

"Yes, you can. You jest need more time," he reassured me.

"Do you know how many people I've killed, Theo? Do you know how many more I will kill? I can't keep doing this. I can't live like this- knowing I could black out and have slaughtered twenty innocent people," my hands shook in clenched fists. "What the hell am I going to do this time?" I sounded broken, weak, young. I hated that.

"The shed Nick took you to-" he stated.

"No, that won't work for me," I told him, "I'm stronger then Nick. I'd rip right out of the chains and probably tare the face off of whoever would be with me."

"We'll figure something out. You and Mora always came out fine."

"No we didn't. We never did. I'd lock her up a motel room and drive as far as I could to the lest-populated area. And that wouldn't be enough." Once a month I'd wake up covered in someone's blood, tasting it in my mouth and down my thought.

A door swung opened and Thorn walked in. "Don't sit here moping, Echo. Smile, you sister found her soul mate."

I scoffed at her cheery tone. "Smile" was not on my list of to-dos.

"Come on," she waved me up, "wouldn't you like to learn a thing or two about yourself?" She baited and I snapped it up. It was not every day you came to encounter someone who actually had solid facts on lycanthropes.

Theo stood, "I've got patrol- if I miss it this time Leah will skin me and make a nice fur pelt for herself," he explained as he turned to leave.

Thorn nodded and led me into a room. It was dark, but the air was warm and comfortable and I settled right in.

"First- I will start off with mates, since your probably very worried about that. Morrie is immune to Nick's bite. She will never change from his bite. Nick and Morana have a sort of mind-link. One knows when the other is in trouble or any sort of emotion. They can literally feel each other's pain, so no killing my brother," she warned sternly. "By mixing their blood together, Morana and Nick will bind their souls together, so even in the next life they can find each other."

"Like reincarnation?" I supplied.

"Exactly. Some souls bound in past lives don't recognize the bond- it's tragic really. They suppress everything the bond gives them- control, mind-links- even the shifter-side imprint goes ignored. But I don't think that will happen to Nick and Mora any time soon." Her voice softened, "… Look, Echo, I know you hate my brother- but he is truly sorry for what he did. Nicky thought he could work it out on his own if he went out into the world, but he couldn't. He realized that when he saw what he'd done to you, he came home and I started to look into the history of lycanthropes. You be surprised how little sources there are. The voultory destroyed most of them- they're not a fan of your kind. But don't worry about that….. anyway- back to mates. Having a shifter mate gives a lycan control. It makes the changes less painful- to the point where they're the same as a shifter's. it really is wonderful- I'm so happy for Nick. Its… just amazing- think about it. Two people so destined for each other that they can connect their minds and their souls and heal each other by blood."

"Yeah, sounds like a real fairy tale," the sarcasm colored my lips and I instantly felt bad, Thorn was just trying to help.

"The moon approaching- it makes you shorter tempered, less controlled?"

I nodded sheepishly.

"Then I suggest you accept Morana and Nick's relationship now before you get any worse. If you come to terms with it now- you won't resent them later on. It's better for everyone this way. Safer."

I felt the growl rise in my thought, but squashed it before I could prove her right. It did make me worse.

"I know. I accept it- but that does not mean I agree with it. But I and working on that," I told her earnestly, getting up to leave the room.

"Echo," she stopped me. I turned, facing her. Her dark hair framed her face and her black eyes grew serious. "Your sister- I know you love her and want to protect her. When she was in the woods someone left her an offering. To put it simply- another lycanthrope wants your sister. Having a mate increases the positive side of lycanthropy and gets rid of the negative. It's an old ritual, to leave kills as tribute to a female shifter if she has not imprinted with him. She slipped in blood- Nick said there were animal carcasses everywhere."

A few minutes later, after much inner turmoil, I went to see Morrie. Yes, she had been angry with me- that's why she stormed off and got herself banged up, but we're sisters- live and let die, right? That's how we were- we'd fight and get over it, no blood spilt. But in this case, there was blood. I could smell it on my skin, in the air, all around, crowding down my thought. Nick exited the room and I tried not to glare at him. Morrie needed him, as much as I hated to admit. If they completed the bond- Morrie wouldn't be at risk. The other werewolf couldn't "claim" her.

There wasn't much to do, as I sat beside Morrie fidgeting with he hem of my shirt. The girl was out cold. And she looked like she was in so much pain that I didn't, not for a second, wish for her to wake up. blood was splotching thought the bandage and every now and then I had to leave to clear my head. Deep down I knew I should be in there, there was too much blood and too many opportunities for me to hurt her. After a few hours I gave up, leaving her with Nick as Thorn went to get something form Leah's for Morrie to wear.

I frowned. Thorn didn't expect me to sleep here, did she? The apprehension played on my face. The front door opened and I stiffened but instantly relaxed when I recognized the sent. Wood smoke, and mountain. Theo trudged though the door, looking tired as hell.

"Good morning," I chirped after checking the clock.

"Morning?" he complained. "Already?"

"Yep- almost 3AM," I grabbed a mug off the counter and made use of the coffee machine. He slouched in a chair, looking half asleep. "I will assume you're tired and not just pitifully board of my company?"

"Shifting takes it out of you- running with your pack mates for a couple hours? Twice as bad."

I took a sip of the coffee and Theo stared up looking pitiful. "What? You didn't think this was for you did you?" I taunted. I smirked and handed the steaming cup to him, which he downed in seconds.

He blinked hard, looking more awake. "Why are you in such a good mood? I'm pretty sure I missed something."

"I'm not really sure- my sister- who is in unbearable pain right now- is going to bind herself to Nick once she comes to, I've only got a few weeks until I turn into a crazed beast, and some other killer lycanthrope is after Morrie. Crap has gone to hell- There's just this point where you have to laugh about it." I plopped down on the couch.

"That bad of a day, huh?"

"Yeah, well- in compassion to others it's been alright." I kicked my feet over the armrest, a quilt sliding half off. "How was- what did you call it?- patrol?"

"Average- we run laps around the woods and chase any sucker that gets too close to the border."

"You never talk about you pack," I commented. "I want to know what its like. What's it like being in one?"

"Loud. Nonstop talking in your head- sometimes having a telepathic link with them is awful. But it's a family- we put up with each other."

I nodded. I had never had a big family but I got the idea. I stood and walked over to the window. It was black as hell outside, but my lycanthrope eyes scanned the shadows, seeing as clearly as if it were day. I kept my eyes low, peering into the forest- not wanting to look up at the half-moon, to acknowledge that time was running out. I turned for the window, leaning against the sill.

Then I felt it- the same hair-razing electric chill that I had felt when we found Nick. I froze, eyes widening, mouth half opening. Theo froze too, but only for a moment. There was crash and I took off like a shot, leaving him in the dust. he was here- who ever had left Morrie the offerings was here to claim her. Fear ran clear though my skull like a hot-iron stake. Morrie.

I couldn't breath. Maybe it was because I was part wolf- that I felt the need to protect her, maybe its because she'd always been my baby sister, or maybe it was just my way of repaying her for all she had done for me. if it weren't for Morrie I'd have gone off the rails by now, I'd be a killer with no restrain, no morals, no self-control. Like this guy. Sometimes- when I got really bad, Morrie was the only thing that held me together. we were family- by blood, by spirit, by all.

It was too quiet. Nick wasn't yelling, I could here the tell-tale sounds of a fight. But then, Morrie's scream priced the silence and my vision turned red. I burst though the door to Morrie's make shift room, not even noticing that I had ripped it off its hinges, or the fact that my hands were bleeding from ripping it off. My heart literally- literally- stopped. The window was broken, the point of entry I was guessing. Nick stood on the other side of the room, back against the wall, face ashen. At first I didn't see Morrie. But when I did I gave a sort of strangled cry and threw myself forward until a voice stopped me.

"One step closer and I snap her neck."

A/N: ok- I know I've been AWALL. But its not my fault. This took impossibly long to write because we kept changing it, and I half-assed the grammar (sorry) because it kept delating. The next chapter should be up soon.